A Fresno nonprofit linked to the largest agricultural water district in the country filed a federal lawsuit alleging San Francisco and other Bay Area communities are unfairly exempted from water cutbacks meant to protect endangered species.

The Center for Environmental Science, Accuracy and Reliability alleges that freshwater diversions from the Tuolumne River are jeopardizing endangered species of salmon, smelt and sturgeon by increasing the salinity of the San Joaquin River and Sacramento Delta, where the river water would naturally flow without upstream dams creating the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. Hetch Hetchy is the primary source of drinking water for 2.6 million people in the Bay Area.

The center's executive director, Craig Manson, is the general counsel for Westlands Water District and the lone named plaintiff in the case is Jean Sagouspe, a Central Valley farmer who is also on the board of the Fresno group and is the former board president of Westlands. Westlands serves 700 family-owned farms in Kings and Fresno counties that produce about $1 billion a year in food and fiber crops.

The nonprofit would not answer whether other interests were involved in its organization, which is dedicated to "equal enforcement of environmental laws."

"If we are to be successful in conserving species in California, everyone must contribute," Manson said in a statement.

'A double standard'

"For decades, San Francisco has taken water from the Tuolumne River, the San Joaquin River and the Delta without consideration for the effect on protected species. We cannot afford to have a double standard which requires only some to contribute to conservation and others to avoid being held accountable for the effects of their actions."

"It's a very shadowy organization run by some prominent antienvironmental interests," Suckling said. "It tries to portray itself as an environmental group. Over the years they have filed quite a few legal actions trying to cause environmental crisis so they can argue environmental laws are extreme."

The lawsuit filed Monday in Washington, D.C., calls the Hetch Hetchy Project "one of the most environmentally controversial projects in United States history." The Hetch Hetchy dams the Tuolumne River inside Yosemite National Park and sends water to San Francisco.

Seeks study of impact

The lawsuit asks the court to determine whether an environmental impact study must be conducted before annual in-stream flows are determined for the Hetch Hetchy.

Attorney Roger Marzulla, who is representing the nonprofit, said it's no surprise during a drought that water diversions are being closely looked at. He said farmers generally feel the "entire burden of the Endangered Species Act" is placed on them.

"It's the same old problem, not enough water," Marzulla said. "If you take that water out of the system and divert it to the Bay Area, you've removed it from the natural system it's in and the Endangered Species Act requires the Park Service consider the effect that has."